Alumni Spotlight

While Megan McKittrick was a senior at UP, she became involved in healthcare research with one of her psychology professors, and continued to be involved with this project after graduation. She had also started volunteering in the ADHD clinical research lab at OHSU while she was a UP student, and thus continued to volunteer there after graduation while she decided whether she wanted to apply to medical school vs veterinary school. In this time period, she applied for some clinical experience jobs and was offered a position as a clinical research associate for the pediatric oncology team at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Working with the team in a clinical setting helped her realize that she “truly wanted to go to medical school and become a physician”. She submitted her applications in 2015 and was accepted to OHSU that year, where she went on to receive her MD in March 2020.  Megan matched with her first-choice residency program, UCLA, where she started her pediatrics residency in June. Since June, she’s already rotated through the newborn nursery, general inpatient ward and night wards, inpatient cardiology, inpatient nephrology, and is currently on inpatient/outpatient neurology. There have been some COVID patients sprinkled in for good measure. She says, “It’s been an incredible experience so far and I can definitely say I learn at least one new thing (usually closer to about 50 new things) every single day.”  Despite this extremely busy schedule, Megan has continued to generously give back to our Pre-Health community. 

Megan, we want to thank you and congratulate you on all your successes… you’re going to be an amazing pediatrician!

1. Give a short description of your application process / tips for upcoming applicants.

I submitted my AMCAS the day it opened, and I think this is the single most important thing you can do. Programs take preparation and commitment very seriously. Having your application ready and submitted on day #1 tells them you’re committed and you have invested the time and effort necessary to succeed in medicine. It sounds obvious, but be sure to proofread and catch any typos before you submit. 

In terms of my overall process, I knew I wanted to apply summer of 2015 (for a hopeful 2016 start), so I started working on my personal statement around Jan 2015. I had a solid draft I was happy with by April 2015. I don’t think it necessarily takes this long for everyone, but I rewrote mine a few times and I think a bad personal statement can really negatively impact an application, so it’s worth it to set aside more time than you think you’ll need. I also strongly suggest having as many people as you can get to read (or even better - edit) your personal statement. Once my personal statement was done, I started working on prepping the sections of AMCAS, and writing my work, research, and activities blurbs. Take some time to think about how these set you apart, and how they make you a valuable addition to a program. 

I also took my MCAT in May 2015. The best advice I can give for MCAT prep is to take as many practice tests as possible, and go over every single practice question, or as many as you possibly can. Make sure you understand why your answer was correct (or incorrect). I still use this study method for boards and I cannot emphasize enough how helpful it is. 

2. How did your time at UP help you with your career choice, application, etc.? 

Hugely! I came to UP thinking I wanted to go to law school, and majored in social work. As I progressed through my sociology curriculum, i realized I missed biology and felt myself drawn to the pre-medical track, but I was nervous about my ability to succeed in the rigorous coursework. After a lot of reflection and conversation with friends, family, and the pre-health advisors at UP, I decided to add the pre-medical coursework to my schedule and change my major to psychology. Having the combination of psychology and pre-medical courses ended up being a perfect balance for me, and I was able to involve myself in both psychology research (focusing on communication between pediatricians and mental health providers) as well as work as a teaching assistant for the general biology lab. Having this breadth of experience (and ultimately, multiple presentations and publications as an undergraduate) hugely strengthened my medical school applications and gave me a wide variety of experiences to discuss during job and graduate school interviews. Most importantly, UP is a really tight-knit community, and I still have phenomenal relationships with many of my psychology and pre-medical faculty and advisors. The mentorship and advising I received was critical, and I’m so grateful to continue to have the support and friendship of people like Dr. Flann and the pre-health advising community. 

3. What are your favorite memories of UP / any highlights?

The weekend movie nights in Buckley auditorium, the desserts from the Commons, building a snowman on the quad with my roommate who had never seen snow before! Visiting my UP bestie in Alaska after graduating and seeing a baby moose in her backyard. Handing out candy to trick or treaters in the dorms. Studying abroad and leaving the continent for the first time. Overall way too many good memories to list! I met some of my closest friends at UP, so lots of good moments to look back on. 

4. What general advice would you give aspiring pre-health types?

Experience as much as you possibly can in the field you think you’re interested in. Volunteer, get a research position, do whatever you can to spend time in that setting and confirm it’s really where you want to build a career. Once you decide you want to be in the healthcare field, remember why you’re passionate about your career once you start graduate school. You’ll have tough moments, and having the big picture to focus on will help you avoid burnout and keep things in perspective. 

Start building a network early, and don’t be afraid to reach out to people at UP or in the community about your interests and research/job/volunteer/mentorship opportunities. 

Don’t be afraid to make your own path in college, and major in whatever makes you happy! Don’t let being a pre-health student stop you from taking that one painting/net sports/philosophy/whatever class.